Abstract 181

Thompson,-RJ; Dixon,-IW

Beef Cattle Husbandry Branch, QDPI, Ayr, Qld 4807, Australia.

Proceedings-of-the-Australian-Society-of-Animal-Production. 1988, 17, 474; 2 ref.

The effectiveness of giving whole cottonseed (WCS) ad libitum to cows grazing dry, mature pastures and liveweight responses to the inclusion of cottonseed meal (CSM) with a WCS supplement were studied. In experiment 1, 24 non-pregnant mature Bos taurus cows grazed Phalaris tuberosa pastures at 1 cow/0.4 ha and were rotated between paddocks weekly coinciding with fasted weighings. Cows were not given or given free access to WCS and refusals were estimated to determine intakes. At completion of experiment 1, the cows were reallocated into 2 groups for experiment 2. One group was fed on 3 kg WCS (3.59% N) while the other was given 2 kg WCS and 1 kg CSM (mean 4.47% N for mixed ration). Feeding methodology was similar to the first trial except stocking rate was reduced to 1 cow/1.25 ha. WCS intakes in experiment 1 ranged from 2 kg per head daily initially to 5 kg over the latter half of the trial. Results suggest that free access to WCS supplements will reduce liveweight loss of drought-affected cows and will maintain those in poor condition. The inclusion of CSM with WCS is necessary to give higher weight gains.